This year’s Food and Drink Awards certianly were full of surprises, read on to found out who won what...
After six months of nominating and short listing, 200 guests, finalists and sponsors joined us to celebrate the 8th Hampshire Life Food & Drink Awards at the Four Seasons Hampshire. Hosted by BBC Hampshire’s Georgie Windsor, the awards celebrated the good and the great from the region’s food & drink industry.
Hampshire has that special mix of land, weather, award-winning food and drink producers and growers and an excellent communication network that enables it to be one of the most successful counties in the country for food and drink production. This in turn of course leads directly on to a vast array of excellent restaurants, cafés, pubs and hotels, who are all dedicated to supporting Hampshire produce.
Without the hard work and dedication of all of our finalists, we simply wouldn’t have a basis for these awards and we want to congratulate all our finalists in achieving so much and, most of all, for receiving the recognition from our readers.
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Newcomer of the Year
Sponsored by El Sabio
Winner
Lisa’s Larder, Keyhaven
“I was very excited and overwhelmed to win this award; it was a big shock for us on the evening. The competition was incredibly high and I just want to say thank you very much to all of our customers for nominating us in this category. It means a great deal to us in our first year of running.”
Highly Commended:
Food Fiend Experience, Hayling Island
Little Delicious, Southampton
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Butcher of the Year
Sponsored by Fullers
Winner
Newlyns Farm Shop, Hook
“We were so pleased to win this award on the night. Newlyns is a family run business but we couldn’t do it without the fantastic team that we’ve got behind us; we are really proud of them and want to say thank you to all our staff for making this happen. To our customers, please keep supporting us and we will keep producing good quality meat and produce in our farm shops for you to enjoy.”
Highly Commended:
Uptons of Bassett, Southampton
Bowtells Farm Shop, Alton
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Tea/Coffee Shop of the Year
Sponsored by Salamandar Gifts
Winner
Rosie Lea’s Tea House & Bakery, Brockenhurst
“I felt so overwhelmed to win on the night and never believed that I could win again after our success last year. Our win in 2012 has done huge amounts for our business, it’s taken us to the next level and this is just phenomenal to be here again for 2013. It’s such an achievement for my staff, who were over the moon to find out we had won again. I just want to say thank you so much to the Hampshire Life readers for your continued support, it means absolutely everything to us.”
Highly Commended:
Josies Wine.Coffee.Deli, Bishops Waltham
Little Shop of Coffee, Yateley
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Best Farm Shop
Sponsored by Cooking 2 Cooling
Winner
Beechcroft Farm Shop, Winchester
“We were so shocked to win this award on the night; it was absolutely fantastic and really exciting that all our hard work has been recognised. We want to say thank you so much to the readers for all their nominations; we had absolutely no idea and when the envelope turned up on the doorstep it was an absolute shock that we’d got nominated so thank you again for all your support, it’s been fantastic.”
Highly Commended:
Setley Ridge Farm Shop, Brockenhurst
Newlyns Farm Shop, Hook
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Best Local Supplier/Producer
Sponsored by New Forest Hotels
Winner
Lyburn Cheese, Salisbury
“We are delighted to be the winners of Best Local Producer. It’s been quite a long, hard haul; the first five years were quite tough, but we’ve now gotten over the top of the hill and the brand is effectively starting to take over and carry us forward. Things like this just help to push the brand on that little bit further and mean that you don’t have to have your foot so hard on the pedal all the time. So many dairy farmers are going out of business these days and so it is so important to us to have this added value to our milk as well as our cheese. Thank you very much to the readers of Hampshire Life for voting for us, and keep buying our cheese.”
Highly Commended:
Goodalls Strawberries, Lymington
Hatchett Herd of Pedigree Dexters, Beaulieu
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New Forest Marque Award
Sponsored by New Forest Produce
Winner
Naked Jam, Barton on Sea
“I was ecstatic to win the New Forest Marque Award but also a bit embarrassed that the other people didn’t win, they were very tough competition and deserved it just as much as me. It’s very nice to be recognised like this, I’ve just won some Great Taste Awards and had some really good customers so this just tops it off; to win my local awards is great. To the readers I would like to say keep buying local, but also experiment yourself, cook yourself, grow your own, get out there and eat some good food.”
Highly Commended:
Spice N Easy, Milford on Sea
Noah’s Ark Farm, New Milton
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Food/Drinks Product of the Year
Sponsored by DeVere Village
Winner
Cheeky Chutney, Hampshire Chutney Company, Basingstoke
“I felt a bit numb on the night after winning this award, the competition was incredibly tough and all were hugely deserving finalists. To get through and win has been absolutely brilliant because we named it after our daughter, she’s only 10 and she was over the moon to find out we had won. To be recognised is fantastic; it’s a great product and a lot of our suppliers do use it, especially the pubs and restaurants. Thank you to the readers for voting for us, without you we wouldn’t be getting the recognition we’ve been getting so please don’t stop buying from us and supporting local.”
Highly Commended:
Rapeseed Oil, Pratt’s Food, Nr Andover
Buffalo Burgers, Broughton Water Buffalo, Broughton
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Best Hampshire Menu
Sponsored by Hampshire Fare
Winner
The Pig, Brockenhurst
“It’s a fantastic achievement for us to win Best Hampshire Menu. We’ve put a lot of hard work in to our menu and it’s just great to get a bit of recognition for it. We want to say thank you very much to the Hampshire Life readers and all the support you’ve given to us in the past and we will look forward to seeing you all at The Pig in the near future.”
Highly Commended:
The Bakers Arms, Droxford
The Plough Inn, Andover
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Pub of the Year
Sponsored by NFU Mutual Basingstoke
Winner
The Hoddington Arms, Upton Grey
“We were speechless to win Pub of the Year, it was absolutely amazing. We were up against some big competitors and so we never dreamt that winning would be possible. Thank you to everyone who voted for us, we really appreciate it and have worked so hard to get here so thank you very much.”
Highly Commended:
The Cricketers, Hartley Wintney
The Chestnut Horse, Winchester
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Restaurant of the Year
Sponsored by Ferns Coffee
Winner
Hartnett Holder & Co at Limewood Hotel, Lyndhurst
“It was brilliant to win this award on the night, we really weren’t expecting it but we were really glad to win as we have only been open since February and it’s been a lot of hard work. The hotel has been open for a few years now and this was a big venture and a big step for Luke and Angela and all of the team involved. They’ve worked really hard and so to win is an honour for them and an honour for Lime Wood as well. Thank you to all our customers who put us forward for the award we’re really pleased.”
Highly Commended:
Hotel Terravina, Netley Marsh
Kyoto Kitchen, Winchester
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Chef of the Year
Sponsored by Harvest Fine Foods
Winner
Luke Holder, Hartnett Holder & Co at Limewood Hotel, Lyndhurst
“I was amazed to win chef of the year, especially going up against some of the people up there; James Durrant is an amazing chef, I’ve eaten at The Plough Inn and I feel very humbled by the whole thing. To win two awards in one evening was truly fantastic, thank you to everyone who nominated me.”
Highly Commended:
James Durrant, The Plough Inn, Andover
Andy MacKenzie, Lainston House, Winchester
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2013 Hampshire Food & Drink Hero
Sponsored by Forest Holidays
Winner
Sarah Hunt (New Forest Marque Manager)
“I felt total disbelief to win the award on the evening but was very, very thrilled. You do what you think is right because you enjoy what you do and I do feel passionately about farming and the food that’s produced locally and it’s just so lovely to be recognised. In the time that I’ve worked in the industry I hope that I’ve made some difference, but I felt truly speechless to win Food and Drink Hero. I had no idea whatsoever that I was in the running for this; it hadn’t even occurred to me but it is absolutely amazing and one of the best things that’s ever happened to me.”
